Cry
by maritheninja
Summary: Hermione recalls the first time she sees Fred cry. AU song fic. FWHG / HGFW. Warning: Extreme angst. Inspired from Mandy Moore's hit song "Cry" and takes a twisted turn, taking in solely the lyrics.


_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does._

**A/N: This is my first ever song fic. It's inspired from Mandy Moore's "Cry" and takes a deep, twisted, angsty turn, which you wouldn't be able to simply catch behind the upbeat, pop song. I took in the solely the lyrics and went on from there. Enjoy!**

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><p><em>I'll always remember. <em>

_It was late afternoon. _

_It lasted forever. _

_It ended too soon._

Hermione had agreed to help with the shop after and George and Fred bought Zonko's and made a Hogsmeade branch of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. George stayed in the Diagon Alley shop with Verity, and turned the new branch over to Fred who figured it would be best if he went in place of his twin. Fred was able to handle working at the branch alone for a while until the loneliness swallowed him up almost entirely and he constantly found himself surrounded by dark thoughts.

He nearly contemplated shutting this branch down to go back to the old shop with his twin. After spending all their time together, it was weird having to wake up by himself and fall asleep at night by himself without his twin near. Sometimes he would unconsciously call for help when planning new products at night, only to realize no one was there to answer. He decided against it after long nights of deliberating with himself. They had worked so hard to get where they were and he refused to throw it all to shits just because he felt the pain of being alone every once in a while.

_You were all by yourself._

_Staring up at a dark gray sky. _

_I was changed._

Hermione often dropped by whenever she was in the area or had the day off from work at the Department for the Regulation and Control of _Magical Creatures_. She knew how much he must have been going through, spending every waking moment with his twin, and then suddenly being thrown off to deal with a business without his other half by his side.

The day she agreed to help Fred in his business, Hermione strolled along to the shop and was quite shocked to find that the store had a "CLOSED" sign on the door to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and looked inside to see an empty store room. All the lights were turned off and she was about to brush it off, thinking he was just taking the day off until she heard weeping coming from inside. She knocked on the door and spoke up. "Fred? Are you in there? Is everything alright?"

_In places no one could find._

_All your feelings so deep inside. _

_Deep inside._

Suddenly, the sound of weeping stopped and she saw the ginger-haired man walk towards the door as he wiped his face with the sleeve of his sweater. He opened the door without saying a word, and Hermione had stepped inside and look straight into his tear-struck eyes. This was the first time she ever saw Fred cry. She thought it was best, in that moment, if she didn't ask what had happened, and merely sent him a comforting smile, and held her arms out for support where he collapsed into tears in her arms.

She held his body, which was shaking with emotion as she rubbed circles across his back and whispered comforting words into his ear. "Shhh, it's alright, Fred. It's okay. Everything will be alright. Shh, I'm here." She'd repeat over and over as his sobs began to dwindle down to merely trying to steady his breathing once again.

He looked at her with an embarrassed expression and muttered, "Sorry, 'Mione…" under his breath as he gathered himself and stumbled slightly at the sudden movement he made. She gazed at him with a look of pure concern and kept a hand on his shoulder.

She had always known him as her best friend's older brother or as a nuisance that wreaked havoc at Hogwarts with his twin, George. However, in the moment she saw him cry, she noticed something more in him. She distinguished weakness in his eyes, and for once, saw him compelled with emotion that had nothing to do with mischief or trouble. He was vulnerable and fragile and Hermione sought it out as a personal goal to make Fred happy again or at least make the pain go away.

_I wanted to hold you. _

_I wanted to make it go away._

_I wanted to know you._

_I wanted to make your everything alright._

Every day after that occurrence, Hermione dropped by the shop and had lively conversations with Fred. She asked how his day went and listened patiently when he was going over it with details about some interesting customers and odd events that took place before she arrived. She eagerly watched him demonstrate new products for their shop and never failed to comment how clever or extraordinary she thought they were. And more often than not, unlike before, she was the one often finding herself telling the usual prankster jokes just to see him grin and laugh.

_Forever was in your eyes._

_Was there that I realized-_

"May I ask you a question, love?" Fred asked one evening, after closing the shop, in the midst of showing her one of his new ideas for a project. Her eyes were gleaming with awe when she looked up at the boy with deep blue eyes. His blue eyes were boring eternities into hers when she replied, "Of course."

"I just can't help but think that you're only here because of that one day…It feels as if you're only staying here for pity's sake…But I wanted to hear it from you before I let my thoughts get the better of me. Why are you still here, 'Mione?" He questioned with a sunken expression, letting his gaze drop to his hands which were fumbling with the new product. He was surprised when he felt two delicate hands caress his own.

She thought deeply and spoke out slowly, carefully choosing her words, "I'll admit that the day that I saw you cry changed how I viewed you greatly." She looked up to see his expression and it looked as if a ghost had just slapped him by the way he turned his head away and seemed as if he was in great pain. She quickly continued as she let her fingers trail up to his face and allow him to look into her eyes, "It opened my eyes to a new side of you- one that was hard for me to grasp before. I realized there was so much more depth to you than the mischievous clown that I watched grow up. I'm here today because in the process of making sure that you never had to cry the way you did that one day…" she stopped to smile at the ginger-haired boy who was now looking eagerly into her eyes. "I found myself inevitably falling for you."

Fred merely dropped her hands and threw his head into his hands as his body shook with emotion. "Fred, what's wrong?" Hermione questioned, shocked at his sudden action.

"This can't go on anymore, 'Mione…I have to let you go." He wept, refusing to look at the bewildered expression on Hermione's face.

"F-fred…Why?" she inquired, tears slowly finding their way to her eyes, blurring her vision as she refused to take her eyes of off him.

"Because I love you too. But I have to let you go…I can't keep hurting you like this. Hermione, _wake up_."

_I think I saw you cry._

_The moment I saw you cry._

Hermione closed her eyes and when she opened them, she was surprised to see herself in a completely different environment. She gazed around the room and saw the familiar walls and flooring. She was at the burrow in Fred's room. Her eyes gazed around and reached the same eyes of the ginger-haired boy who she was just having a conversation with in the shop. His were now blood-shot red with tears spilling over as he dashed out of the room with a look of pure anguish.

A confused expression crossed her face when Harry walked slowly into the room. "Harry, what's wrong with…?" she inquired with eye brows furrowed. "Hermione…" he whispered in a distressed manner.

She winced and examined her body to find battle wounds spread out across her arms and legs. She looked up at him with horror clearly showing in her eyes. Harry breathed out a deep sigh, which was followed with an, "You were muttering Fred's name underneath your breath the whole time you were passed out…George couldn't take it anymore what with Fred being-" He stopped and gazed into her eyes which were now still spilling over with tears from her slumber. He quickly rushed to her side and held her close as sobs wracked her body and she could no longer take it anymore.

Suddenly, everything came back to her.

**Gone.** Fred was gone. And he did not fail to star in her dreams- or rather nightmares- for the 8th week in a row. Hermione's extensive feeling of regret always caused her to dwell upon the memory nearly three months ago when she saw him crying in his shop. That much was real. She never got to tell him how much she truly loved him due to what happened that day.

"_That day…" _Hermione recalled as a million thoughts raced through her mind, trying to sort everything through.

_Hermione strolled along to the shop and was quite shocked to find that the store had a "CLOSED" sign on the door to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and looked inside to see an empty store room. All the lights were turned off and she was about to brush it off, thinking he was just taking the day off until she heard weeping coming from inside…_

_She looked through the window and saw Fred crying at the front counter, his face buried in his hands- the sound of his bawling increasing until Hermione could not handle it anymore. _"He needs some time alone…"_ she thought briskly before taking one more glance inside and turning around towards her flat. _

_She didn't realize Fred had enough time alone as it was and that the next morning, she would walk into the shop, expecting to see Fred, recovered, lively, and well, and discover his body sprawled out across the floor of his bed room, with anti-depression pills scattered around, traces of his tears still on his face._

"Fred?"

_Oh, no no._

He was gone. And he would never realize how much she loved him-

_The moment I saw you cry. _

_I wanted to know you. _

_I wanted to know you. _

_I wanted to know you._

"_But now I'll never get the chance…"_


End file.
